The All Blacks cut France to pieces and they won't be able to put them back together
Despite boasting an unrivaled win percentage over rugby’s history, the All Blacks have continued to innovate the game in the quest for enhancement.
Just twelve months out from the Rugby World Cup, the mindset is no different. We hear snippets that they are working on a new attacking system, evolving once more. The overbearing influence of line speed in modern defensive systems requires a counter-balancing leap forward in attacking prowess.
That’s what the All Blacks are looking for, a style of attacking play that forces defences into a state of flux, where line speed becomes a weakness and triggers second-guessing.
“The biggest trend is being able to deal with all the linespeed and what variations you can put into your attack to punish that,” said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen before the match.
“We’ve talked about having a triple-threat game [run-pass-kick], and it’s having the ability to make good decisions with high-end skills.
In the first test against France, the All Blacks had fifty minutes of exploring before exploding with a bonanza of points. We saw them employ a number of different strategies but in the end, it was the same old plays off turnover ball and counter-attack that killed France.
The first ten minutes resembled the Highlanders playbook, with a kick-first and kick-second approach. Within the first ten minutes, Beauden Barrett had produced two grubbers in-behind and a cross-field chip, all within three consecutive touches. It was likely a ploy to slow down the early rush defence and get the defensive line turning.
After that initial burst, the kicks were shelved for the rest of the half as they tried to fall back into their patterns.
We saw elements of the 1-3-3-1 that Barrett runs at the Hurricanes, with Ryan Crotty and Jordie Barrett filling in as first receiver options. At times they struggled to get into a flow, with first phase errors and stout French defence causing turnovers.
Despite the teething issues, they cut the French open coming back to the left side after working to the right edge, a pattern the Hurricanes often find so much success with. Beauden Barrett finished in the corner on the next phase after Jordie’s line break. A try to Anton Lienert-Brown was disallowed but had similar lead-up work.
They employed the same kicking tactics again early in the second half, with frequent short kicks that paid dividends when Codie Taylor crossed after a deft left-foot grubber by Barrett.
Then it was Aaron Smith taking over, with back-to-back box kicks that pinned the French into their own five. The quick lineout off the back of France’s exit broke the game open as Ben Smith scored from basic catch-pass movement to the edge.
Rieko Ioane combined with Aaron Smith to skin France down a short blindside, who were slow to react and poor in their spacing coverage on the lineout maul.
From there, it was a landslide of points as McKenzie burst through on a scything 60-metre run following a turnover. Then he went off again on the very next kickoff to set up a barnstorming try for Ngani Laumape. Rieko Ioane bagged a double with a long-range intercept and Ardie Savea finished the job with a pick’n’go try.
When it was all over the French were more than defeated, absolutely demoralised.
France’s line speed never really materialized and completely fell apart in the second stanza. As a result, we didn’t see a new All Blacks attack, just the same things they have always been good at. The frequency of tries minute after minute in the second half didn’t allow the All Blacks to hold the ball long enough to experiment with new structures.
The reality is the avalanche of points cannot be solely blamed on a ten minute period where France was down to 14-men. They were destroyed in every facet of the game. They failed to adequately transition in defence, made poor decisions, took bad angles, and left inexcusable overlaps due to bad spacing. The biggest worry is the edge defence, where the All Blacks ran roughshod over them in the second half.
France’s biggest hope to level the series is treacherous conditions as a leveler, where their brutality-based game can flourish in slow conditions. That might help them in the second test in Wellington, but it won’t save them under the roof of Dunedin.
Instead of finding a new attacking style the All Blacks found that France are still France, and they will fall apart when things don’t go their way.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments